Word: ecosystem
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Animals need old growth forests for shelter and protection. They need the ground cover that has been there for decades, able to nurture the small plants and animals that support the fragile ecosystem. Animals need a continuous stand of older growth, as survival among smaller trees with limited forage is unsustainable...
...expedition, led by botanist Michael Fay of Wildlife Conservation International, has taken us to parts of the forest we believe no human has ever seen. We are catching a glimpse of the rarest treasure on this crowded planet: an ecosystem as pristine today as it was 12,000 years ago, before humans began to transform the earth. Our journey into unknown territory is a grand adventure, one that is as exciting as it is daunting. At one point, Fay must persuade apprehensive Pygmy trackers to continue through the Ndoki, for legend holds that the forest is home to Mokele Mbembe...
...trails are abandoned and overgrown. On the east side we see fresh signs of elephants everywhere. We do not, however, see the great beasts. Because of the vast territory they roam, and perhaps because of their ability to communicate with one another, they are the only creatures in this ecosystem that know about humans. They stay away from...
...hunts would in no way affect the forest. Since then, however, he has realized that conservationists should not introduce hunting where animals have never learned to fear humans. Moreover, only if there is a total ban on hunting will the Pygmies resist the temptation to exploit this immensely productive ecosystem...
Biology textbooks had led me to believe that niches fill rapidly, sensitive to the shifting pressures of the environment. Clearly, this did not hold true for the Harvard ecosystem...